Burrows lifts Canucks into next round with OT goal

Vancouver Canucks' Alex Burrows, right, celebrates his game winning goal with teammate Ryan Kesler during the overtime period against the Chicago Blackhawks in game 7.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Alex Burrows scored his second goal 5:22 into overtime, Roberto Luongo made 31 saves and the Vancouver Canucks avoided a historic playoff collapse by knocking the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks out in the first round with a 2-1 win in Game 7 on Tuesday night.

Burrows, who took a penalty early in overtime, pounced on a Chris Campoli turnover and fired a slap shot over the right shoulder of rookie Chicago goalie Corey Crawford.

Burrows opened the scoring 2:43 in, but Chicago captain Jonathan Toews scored his first goal of the playoffs shorthanded with 1:56 left to force overtime.

Vancouver won the first three games before the defending champions roared back with three straight victories, threatening to spoil the Canucks’ Presidents Trophy-winning season by becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to erase an 0-3 series deficit.

After being eliminated from the last two postseasons by the Blackhawks, the Canucks finally returned the favor and will host Nashville in the second round.

Crawford made 36 saves to keep Chicago in the game.<

Flyers 5, Sabres 2

PHILADELPHIA  — Brian Boucher stopped 25 shots and Philadelphia won Game 7 of its first-round series to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The defending conference champions, who raced to a 4-0 lead and chased Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller in the third, must wait to learn their next opponent: Boston, Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay.

Braydon Coburn, Danny Briere, James van Riemsdyk, and Ville Leino all scored against Miller, and Dan Carcillo added a goal in the third.

Boucher, who may have solidified himself as the No. 1 goalie for as long as Philadelphia’s postseason run lasts, lost a bid at the Flyers’ first shutout of the season when Tyler Myers made it 4-1 in the third.

Brad Boyes scored on a late backhander for Buffalo to trim it to 5-2.<

Canadiens 2, Bruins 1

MONTREAL  — Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri scored during two separate two-man advantages to help Montreal force a decisive Game 7 in the first-round playoff series.

Game 7 is Wednesday night in Boston, with the Bruins looking to beat the Canadiens for only the ninth time in 33 postseason series.

Dennis Seidenberg scored for Boston, which played more than half the game without ejected winger Milan Lucic but still outshot the Canadiens 32-27. Lucic was given a major for boarding and a game misconduct for a hit from behind on Jaroslav Spacek.

Boston had taken the lead in the closely contested series with consecutive overtime wins, but couldn’t get the equalizer behind a sharp Carey Price, who made 31 saves.

Tim Thomas stopped 25 shots for the Bruins.